New Illinois coach John Groce has hired Paris Parham, a former Illinois State assistant with strong ties to Chicago, to replace Isaac Chew, a source said Tuesday.

            Parham, who played at Dunbar and coached at Morgan Park and Philips, has stronger Public League ties than Chew, who left Missouri for Illinois but was lured away within weeks by Marquette coach Buzz Williams.

            A formal announcement is expected after Groce and Parham work some details, the source said.

            Parham played at Lincoln College and Minnesota State, finishing his college playing career in 1995. He was an assistant at Minnesota State and Maryland-Eastern Shore for nine seasons before becoming a Public League head coach for three seasons. After five seasons at ISU, he was not retained by new coach Dan Muller, who replaced Tim Jankevich this spring.

            ``Paris was an outstanding coach, scout, mentor and asset to our program," said Jankevich, who has joined Larry Brown at SMU. ``As a coach, he's the entire package.''

            Parham is expected to give Groce solid recruiting balance on his assistant staff.

            Parham joins Dustin Ford, and Jamall Walker, who were on Groce's staff at Ohio. Ford, whose brother, Geno, is Bradley's head coach, has solid roots in his native Ohio. Walker, who's from Wichita, Kan., played at Saint Louis (Mo.) University.